Reaching out through reading

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I felt quite hesitant about tackling this book after comments from friends….disturbing , harrowing etc,!….but once i,d started it, I did get “sucked in” to Eva,s story.I see the book as much about family relationships and and the society in which we are raising children, as a story about motherhood. The narrator leaves so many unanswered questions….as all good authors do…mainly the “nature versus nurture” debate. How much was Kevin influenced by the odd, confrontational relationship with his mother, starting in the womb, and the complicated power struggle type marriage of his parents! Did the jealousy of Eva for Franklin,s affections fuel Kevin,s own jealousy…..is this why he killed his father and sister to punish Eva? Why did Franklin ignore all the psycotic signs….did he perhaps feel that he was in control of the marriage after the arrival of Kevin, using him as an emotional weapon!

My feeling is that Kevin was born with the tendencey to be “bad” and that the influences of his family and society in general were a lethal mix and tipped him over the edge! After all, many children are born unwanted or disappoint the unrealistic ambitions of their parents but don,t turn into mass murderers!